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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28608411">A Pokémon Special Birthday</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberry_reef/pseuds/raspberry_reef'>raspberry_reef</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthday, Friendship, Gen, Surprises</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:41:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28608411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberry_reef/pseuds/raspberry_reef</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The dexholders split up into teams to prepare Yellow’s birthday surprise, but each group has some problems cooperating.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Grass Team (Red, Crystal, Emerald)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Great, everyone’s here!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red, Blue, and Green stood over their juniors, who were mostly sprawled on the lawn in front of Professor Oak’s lab.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did we have to be here at 7 a.m.? The sun isn’t even over the trees!” Gold whined.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because today,” Blue’s Wigglytuff did a Double-slap on Gold, forcing him upright, “is Yellow’s 20th birthday.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Hoenn trio quickly sat up to avoid the same punishment. Silver had already been informed by Blue of the occasion, and Crystal was the only junior who remembered Yellow’s birthday.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve discussed preparations and decided it’s best to have groups.” Green momentarily side-eyed his friends. “You’ll go with the type of pokémon received from your professor,” and then he sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Which means Sapphire and Gold, you two are with me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red and Blue flashed him sympathetic smiles, knowing the serious dexholder would rather have any other pair. Meanwhile, Sapphire and Gold immediately protested, not considering the implied insult in their complaints. Wigglytuff shut them up quickly with a wag of her limb.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, now, it’ll be a fun learning experience. Silver and Ruby, you’re with me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And Crystal, Emerald, and I will be the Grass Team!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blue grabbed a piece of paper from her bag. “We’ve already designated roles for each team. My team is in charge of invitations. Red’s team will distract Yellow and have her arrive at Oak’s lab around 3 p.m and no sooner. Green’s team is to clear out a space for the party and set all the decorations up in the meantime. Any questions?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruby raised his hand. “Can’t we switch roles with Green’s team? I don’t understand why I’m not in charge of decorating.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ya think yer the only one with a fashion sense?!” Sapphire looked ready to pounce on Ruby, but was held back by Green.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No one in the lab if I’m not there.” Green stated, recalling the disaster that was his own surprise party when his grandfather lent Red and Blue the laboratory. “And no switching with Sapphire.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And that’s that! Good luck everyone!”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Mission: Keep Yellow company and away from the lab until 3 p.m.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So we just have to keep Yellow company until 3?” Emerald struggled to keep up with his long-legged seniors, prompting them to slow down to his pace. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s right! Pika should already be with her as a precautionary measure and is supposed to stop Yellow if she tries to approach the lab before then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Crystal was only half-listening, eyeing a group of children farther down the road. They appeared to be having a very enthusiastic... huddle? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Red, Emerald, should we go check on those kids?” She pointed to the group, many of which were now jumping up and down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Upon noticing the group, Red swiped a pokéball from his belt. “Why not? We still have plenty of time.” He ran forward before his teammates could respond, waving to the children. Realizing he wasn’t going to catch up before Red and Crystal got their attention, Emerald strolled to the group at his own pace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the kids shouted upon seeing Red. “Look, it’s Red! And he’s got a friend!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Look out!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be careful, it’s going to get away!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not anymore, it’s not!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red and Poli peeked into their inner circle, observing that the children were surrounding a wild Raticate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Red, can you catch this pokémon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll be so cool!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red scratched the back of his head. “Actually, if it’s a capture...” He turned to Crystal. “My friend Crystal here is more capable.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The kids stared with blank eyes until Crystal pulled out several pokéballs seemingly from thin air, laying them across the ground. The children then stared in awe of the array, most never having seen anything better than a Great Ball. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, let’s see. Raticate’s on edge and from its footing, it looks like it plans to make a break for it. The perfect ball for this capture is...” Crystal picked up a ball with her foot and sent it flying in one kick towards the spot above Raticate’s nose, “a Fast Ball!” The ball shook a few times before settling down, with Raticate having calmed down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whoa!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didya see how fast that was?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanna try that!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You blocked my view!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time Emerald caught up, Crystal had the children crowding around her, mostly asking to see her catch another pokémon. Red was standing off to the side with a sheepish grin, though he waved at Emerald.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Having assured the children she’d return later, the Grass team made it out of Pallet Town and walked through Route 1. The tall grass gave Emerald some issues until he called Sceptile to simply carry him across while he tried to recover some sleep. He woke up to Sceptile shaking him back and forth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? what? Jeez, I’m so tired...” Emerald nearly fell back asleep, but felt the ground before he could. He scrambled to his feet. “Okay, I’m up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh good! Emerald, can you calm that Arbok? It seems to belong to someone so I can’t catch it!” Crystal yelled from across the field of grass. Emerald scanned his field of vision for Red, but the dexholder wasn’t nearby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, is now a bad time to say I didn’t bring my dirt gun?” Emerald heard a ‘What?!’ from Crystal’s direction before seeing her dodge a Poison Tail. Taking a closer look at the Arbok, he detected its hometown all the way in Route 33. That was Johto!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thankfully, he still carried his dirt pellets wherever he went. Opting for a more manual solution, he called forth his Sudowoodo and rubbed the dirt across its branches and round ends. A quick Bullet Seed from Sceptile caused it to face Emerald, preparing to launch an acid attack by rearing its giant head back. Midway through its preparation, Sudowoodo used Flail to fling the pieces of dirt in the calming pattern, knocking the Cobra Pokémon down and generating a signature flash of light. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Arbok lifted its body from the ground and shook its head clear of the rampage. Wild Caterpie and Rattata began to poke their heads from behind bushes and trees, moving carefully back into the grass. Arbok took note of its surroundings, looking for its trainer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red suddenly burst out of the trees bordering Route 1 with another man. “I found its trainer! Apparently they got attacked by a swarm of Beedrill and were separated.” The man quickly ran to his Arbok despite being covered in multiple sting wounds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll have Parasee make a remedy, please wait,” Crystal started gathering up some berries for Parasect to mix. “You two must not have known about the aggressive Beedrill here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because they’re from Johto.” Emerald declared. He rubbed his eyes, ready to take a nap before the man grasped his hands and shook them aggressively.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you for your help, little boy!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emerald didn’t really want to start a fight but he was certainly irritated. He looked up at the sky, ignoring the man in favor of his nap, but noticed the sun was right above him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What time is it?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Crystal read her watch. “Oh, it’s 12:30! We should get going.” Parasee approached the man, plastering the medicine over his wounds. With pleading eyes, he turned to Crystal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Before you go, do you have time to help my friend? He got lost behind me and Arbok, and I fear he might be in trouble too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the same time Red said “Of course!”, Emerald had shouted “NO!”, shocking the team.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course we have to help him! He could be in danger!” Red’s eyes were fierce with determination.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“YOU help him! I’m going to find Yellow!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Emerald, we should help him. We still have a couple of hours before we have to see Yellow and we could use your skills.” Crystal remarked. She was a little confused at Emerald’s insistence considering he wasn’t particularly close to Yellow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what about Yellow? We were supposed to be with her for her birthday and now she’s probably spent the whole morning alone wondering where her friends are and why Pika won’t let her see them!” Emerald hung his head. He hated arguing with Crystal but he was also angry at their apathy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not changing my mind. Go help him. I’m going to see Yellow.” He climbed Sceptile and rode off towards the Viridian Forest, ignoring the calls of his seniors.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Water Team (Blue, Silver, Ruby)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mission: Deliver invitations. List: Bill’s House, Uncle Fisherman, Cerulean, Pewter, Celadon, Cinnabar Gyms</p><p>“Everyone have a flying pokémon?” Blue checked Ririri’s condition again, receiving a smile from the Jigglypuff.</p><p>Silver sent out his Honchkrow, which proceeded to puff out its chest to say it was ready.</p><p>And Ruby had forgotten Blue’s question upon seeing the majestic bird. “What manner of pokémon is this? ...Well you have an Adamant nature, perfect for cool contests!” He brought out his magnifying glass to the large tuft of hair on its body to inspect its condition. “Look at all these tangles, does your trainer even respect you?”</p><p>Silver swatted at Ruby, but his hand was caught mid-swat by Blue. “Let him do his thing. I think Honchkrow will like the results.” Silver sighed but lowered his hand.</p><p>“And keep him company.” Blue moved a few paces away, pulling out her map of routes for the mission. </p><p>Silver wanted to drag Blue back, concerned with what he might do to poor Ruby if left to his own devices. Meanwhile, Ruby had already started brushing Honchkrow’s fur, to which the pokémon responded by puffing out its chest even more. Silver decided sitting on his hands was the best option.</p><p>After a few minutes of silence, Silver was jolted from his internal thoughts by Ruby.</p><p>“And done! All prim and proper, exuding coolness, is Honchkrow!” Ruby posed along with Honchkrow. Its coat was shining, almost to the point Silver had to cover his face with a hand. He felt his other pokéballs shake and hoped it wasn’t because they also wanted a grooming session. </p><p>“Oh, how amazing!” Blue returned from her corner acting surprised, though there was no doubt she heard everything from her proximity. “Isn’t Honchkrow fabulous?” She nudged Silver with her elbow.</p><p>“Um, he looks fine.”</p><p>“Doesn’t he? I always do a good job.”</p><p>“Sadly, he might get a little dirty.” She wagged the paper. “I’ve got all the routes sorted out, and we’ll all meet back here at 2.” Before she could start assigning places, Ruby interrupted.</p><p>“I don’t have a flying pokémon.” He stated matter-of-factly. </p><p>“In that case, take Jiggly!” She tossed him the pokéball to her Wigglytuff. “She’s a little slow, but she’s reliable.” </p><p>“I’ll be going to the Sevii Islands, Silver will be inviting Yellow’s uncle from Johto, and Ruby will go to her friends in Kanto.” She handed each of them a map labeled with names and addresses. “See you at 2:30 and don’t hesitate to call if you’re lost.” Blue sent them both off with a pat on the back.</p><p>Silver nodded and departed with his Honchkrow, thankful to finally be able to begin the mission. Unsurprising given his efficient nature, he finished the fastest. He did, however, spook the fisherman uncle into driving his boat away and had to give chase on Feraligatr for 30 minutes. </p><p>He returned to the border of Pallet Town and recalled his Honchkrow. To his shock, the bird refused and ran its wing through its fur coat, indicating it wanted a brush. It appeared the wind had tangled all the hairs again.</p><p>“Wait for Ruby to return.” Silver commanded, leaning back against the tree trunk. This time, he was awoken by feathers whacking against his face. </p><p>“What the-?!” Honchkrow had presented a brush in front of his face, plucked from the coat itself. He dropped the brush onto his trainer’s lap and stood tall, blocking out part of Silver’s view.</p><p>Silver frowned, then scanned the area he <em>could</em> see before picking up the brush and brushing Honchkrow’s coat. He started off reluctant, then became immersed and soon finished, restoring the coat to its clean sheen, though not as great as when Ruby had brushed it. Not long after, Silver saw a shadowy figure in the sky.</p><p>“Black jacket, red hair... we’re here Jiggly!” Silver saw Blue’s Wigglytuff descend along with Ruby, now done with his task. Silver noted it was 2 o’clock and Blue was not back yet. The Sevii Islands weren’t far, so either she was in trouble, or more likely, she intentionally did not come back in order to force Silver to talk with Ruby. She had talked to Silver multiple times about connecting with their juniors, and even though she was probably right, he still wasn’t on board with the idea.</p><p>Ruby landed on the ground and swept the dust off his clothes. He looked around for Blue, and realized she was not here yet, leaving him alone with Silver. The senior was hard to engage in a conversation, so Ruby decided to distract himself with his pokémon before noticing the state of Honchkrow and the object in Silver’s right hand. </p><p>“You groomed your Honchkrow!” </p><p>Silver tossed the brush into the woods behind him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p><p>“You don’t have to hide it, Silver. Caring for your pokémon is the greatest act you can do for them!” Honchkrow nodded in assent, betraying his trainer.  </p><p>Ruby retrieved another brush from his bag and began giving tips to Silver on improving his grooming, to which the other visibly ignored but was privately taking note of. After Ruby had finished his lesson, Honchkrow once again had a shining coat.</p><p>“Trainers like us have to stick together. Far too many trainers like Sapphire and my dad dirty their pokémon in battle and don’t bother to keep up appearances.”</p><p>“Your dad?”</p><p>“Ugh, you may have heard of him. He’s a Gym Leader in Hoenn and a complete battle maniac. I hope your dad isn’t as vulgar.” </p><p> “My father is the leader of Team Rocket.”</p><p>“Oh.” Ruby coughed. “Er...” He suddenly felt very awkward, but strangely enough, Silver didn’t seem to notice or if he did, it wasn’t bothering him.</p><p>“...Someone once told me not to be ashamed of my lineage.” Silver stared at Weavile’s pokéball. “My father has done terrible things, but he saved my life... And I’m not tied to his legacy. If I continue to do the right thing, I’ll have my own legacy... even if his is behind it.”</p><p>Ruby nodded in understanding, oddly thankful to his senior for sharing. “I’ll always be the son of Norman the Gym Leader, but I want to be Ruby the Charmer first.” </p><p>Perhaps they weren’t as different as Silver believed.</p><p>“Am I interrupting something?”</p><p>“Blue!” Silver and Ruby spoke simultaneously. </p><p>“It’s 2:30, on the dot. Shall we head to the party?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Writing this I didn't know if Silver would be so open but then I remembered he gave his life story to Eusine within minutes of meeting him.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Fire Team (Green, Gold, Sapphire)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mission: Set up and decorate Professor Oak’s Research Laboratory</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yer gramps’ lab’s huge! It’s gonna be a big party for sure!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All right, Fire team! Let’s get to fixing this dump up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t call it a dump.” Green rubbed his forehead, already feeling a migraine incoming. He pulled the two back before they could start destroying the place. “You two are not touching anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whaddya mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we’re supposed to be a team!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m the leader of this team and as such, I’ve already decided what your job is.” He handed the two of them a special, non-tearable (though not as durable when compared to Sapphire’s strength), non-flammable, laminated piece of paper. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is a shopping list,” Sapphire complained. “Yer making us do Ruby’s work!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I agree with Wild Child, why can’t we help out here? You don’t trust us?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I don’t.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then I’ll prove we can help!” Gold whipped out a pokéball, but it was immediately snatched by Green before he could release the pokémon inside. Never one to give up, Gold ended up having all six of his Pokémon confiscated. Seeing Sapphire was about to try the same thing, Green glared at her since he knew he wasn’t fast enough to handle Sapphire. After seeing that it had its intended effect, he relented.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can help out </span>
  <em>
    <span>if and only if</span>
  </em>
  <span> you get all these items back in time. Here’s a second copy so you can split up the work.” He handed Gold back his Togekiss and Typhlosion, deciding to make the other four help out. Despite being a part of Gold’s party, they were good workers should their trainer not be present. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Never ones to back down from a challenge, Sapphire and Gold took off to Celadon City to gather the supplies, even making it a race to get to the city first. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, I’ll take the first half up to </span>
  <em>
    <span>yellow streamers</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and you take everything afterward.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But that’s boring, why do I get the worse half?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> your senior, and you should listen to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sapphire considered knocking some teeth off her </span>
  <em>
    <span>senior</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but thought better of it. She’d get everything off the list and more, besting Gold and teaching Green not to lump them together. She dashed into the shopping mall first and climbed the stairs faster than an elevator trip. Then she remembered she couldn’t read. She grumbled some choice words about reading before approaching the desk clerk to read the list for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Gold was off at the Celadon Game Corner. Everything on the list was a piece of cake, and even then, the important stuff was on Sapphire’s side. Green’s tastes were so boring anyhow. Really? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yellow streamers?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gold would get Yellow a real gift </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> real decorations. Maybe fire-themed ones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two dexholders met up again at 12 p.m., each carrying a load of decorations for the party. Gold eyed the two large boxes Sapphire was carrying compared to his one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Made sure you got everything, Wild Child?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t ya like to know? That’s a small box ya got there,” Sapphire snickered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s what inside that counts.” Gold smirked, knowing there was no way Sapphire could come close to the prize he won. Unwilling to compare their hauls, they flew back to Pallet Town with Gold and Togebo making faces the whole ride for being faster than Sapphire and Pilo. Little did they know they should have double-checked their lists before leaving Celadon...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they arrived at 1 p.m., Green had cleared out most of the lab and set up tables and chairs for the guests. He made sure to move all the Pokémon and expensive machines before his destructive teammates got back. Thank goodness for the Storage System... not that he’d ever tell Bill that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He heard some scuffling at the door and assumed both of them were fighting to get through the door at the same time. He was right, and he even guessed Sapphire knocking Gold and his box down to get in first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be careful! Gold, yours didn’t have the cake right?” Green picked up his box and placed it on the nearest table. He didn't hear anything slide, thankfully.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cake?” Sapphire and Gold asked before realizing their mistake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me you got the cake.” Green’s voice had an ice-cold edge. Neither Gold nor Sapphire risked saying anything more incriminating. “Put the boxes down.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Placing her load silently, Sapphire joined Gold in being ten paces from their senior. Green sliced open the boxes and scrambled through several objects before glaring at them as though they had stabbed his beloved Charizard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There are no plates.” He sharply inhaled. “No spoons, no forks, no food?! Did you even read the list I gave you?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sapphire thought it was a bad time to mention she couldn’t read. Maybe she could blame the clerk but it was more likely she’d forgotten while trying to get the cutest decorations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I got a Pichu plush for Yellow,” Gold commented weakly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“YOU WENT TO THE GAME CORNER?!” Green roared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gold was shaking in fear, and not even the knowledge that Green had been to the Game Corner enough to know the secret prizes could give him the courage to speak.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the same time, Charizard had returned from its last shipment of lab equipment and landed next to his fuming trainer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Green sighed, placing a hand on his only reliable teammate. “If I leave now, I can probably make it back with the cake by 3:30.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait!” Gold had one more idea. “I can have a cake by 3!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can?” pressed Sapphire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have five seconds to explain.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can bake! Just a few ingredients and one hour and voila, we have a cake!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Green looked back at Charizard for advice, but the Pokémon was giving him a trust-your-friends look. When had he turned into Red?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine, my house. Both of you. Now.” Green jumped onto Charizard. “And if you burn </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you’re paying it back in double.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Mission Complete</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sun indicated it was around 2, well past the time they should have made it to Yellow. In fact, by the time Emerald reached the Viridian Forest, neither Yellow, Pika, or Chuchu were anywhere to be found. He was too late. Perhaps she had run away, thinking her friends had forgotten her, or went to find them despite Pika’s job. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He decided to take some shelter in the Viridian City Gym. Despite the occasion, it was still a weekday, meaning Green had no excuse to shut the place down. Waving away hologram Green, he placed his pokéballs in the healing machine and went upstairs to take a bathroom break. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On his way up, he saw the light to Green’s office was on. Alarmed, he sneaked his way to the door, ready to trip the person using his height disadvantage. Hearing some movements and the door creak open, Emerald swept his leg forward...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Green, is that you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Yellow’s voice! Emerald tried to pull his leg back but having extended it too far, he fell forward and landed on the unfortunate Chuchu who jumped out too soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>ZAP!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Emerald felt the pain of a Thundershock course through his small body. Thankfully, Chuchu was pretty weak. He would probably be toast if it had been Pika, but Chuchu’s attack had been enough to knock the boy out for several minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah! He’s awake, Chuchu, apologize!” Emerald heard Yellow’s faint voice as he opened his eyes. His vision was filled with blurry Pikachus and he sat up, realizing he had been laying on the office couch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ugh...” He shook his head, now seeing a concerned Yellow and an apologetic Chuchu. Pika settled on Yellow’s shoulder, giving no indication of concern. “Oh, no! What time is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” She took a step back to read the clock. “It’s 2:30... Do you have somewhere to be?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! I mean, no, </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> have somewhere to be!” Emerald grabbed Yellow’s hand and dragged her to the healing machine to retrieve his pokémon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emerald, what’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “We can make it if we hurry, your friends are waiting for you!” He quickly strapped his pokémon to his sash and sent out Sceptile to ride on. He tried to drag Yellow to the door, but she held herself in place. She was stronger than she looked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emerald, did you come here by yourself?” Emerald didn’t answer right away, so Yellow looked into Sceptile’s recent memories. Emerald wasn’t able to swat her hand away fast enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were with Red and Crystal? Where are they now?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We split up... but we were supposed to be here sooner, I promise! We didn’t mean to leave you alone for so long!” Emerald explained what had happened as fast as he could while Yellow listened intently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After hearing his story, Yellow nodded. “I see, so you were helping people... That’s good!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh? But weren’t you lonely without any friends, it is your birthday after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is?! Today’s the 3rd?!” Yellow fumbled around her belongings to pull out her Pokégear. It was still shiny from a lack of use. Upon reading the date, she understood why Emerald sounded so panicked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, it is my birthday! You must have been afraid I’d be sad spending it alone...” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emerald nearly fell over again in disbelief. How could she not remember her own birthday, especially her 20th?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yellow took his hand again. “Then let’s go! Erm, where are we going?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To Oak’s lab!” The double doors to the gym opened, revealing Red and Crystal waiting on their pokémon mounts outside.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Yellow!” Red waved at her from atop his Venusaur. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can say hi on the way, we have to go now or we’ll be late!” Crystal reminded them, and dashed off on Mega. Emerald and Red quickly followed, with the latter reuniting with Pika, while Yellow sent out her Butterfree to carry her to Pallet Town.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surprise, Yellow!” Yellow’s friends and family all cheered as she entered the building. The lab looked completely remodeled and much bigger with all the machines and shelves relocated. Mismatched banners and Pokémon balloons decorated the walls and ceiling, and various trinkets adorned the tables and chairs. Tablecloths and candles were on every table, and she noted some had two layers of tablecloth. Never hurts to take precautions, she guessed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She saw so many of her friends. Bill, Daisy, Professor Oak. Her uncle. Gym Leaders Misty, Brock, Erika, and Blaine. And her beloved dexholders. She took the time to greet each and every one of them, but noticed some were missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Green, Gold, and Sapphire?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the door to the lab swung open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coming through, we got a cake!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gold appeared at her side and shoved a Pichu plush in her arms. “This is from me! </span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> I made the cake, aren’t I the greatest? Happy Birthday, Straw Hat Gal!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He did not make the cake. He burned down my kitchen and I called Erika to drop off the cake at my house on her way here. Also, Happy Birthday Yellow.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Correction: Sapphire burned down the kitchen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t blame me because of yer stupid instructions!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, thank you all for trying anyway,” Yellow looked at the large, two-tier birthday cake made to feed 20 people. It even had macarons on the edge of each layer! “Wow, who ordered this cake?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue moved behind the cake with Red in tow. “We did! And technically speaking, so did Green’s wallet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yellow’s uncle pushed through the crowd of dexholders. “So we gonna eat or what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So early? We haven’t even played card games!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gold, you’ve had enough games for a lifetime.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yellow decided to cut the cake early, fearing all the excitement would cause her to fall asleep before everyone could eat. Thankfully, her joy (and earlier naps) allowed her to stay awake and win several thousand Pokédollars before the sunset, which she then proceeded to lose to Crystal and Sapphire in a trivia game hosted by the Professor. Everyone was kind enough to stay for clean-up but by the time they finished, it was past midnight. Instead of flying home so late at night, they all stayed at either Red or Blue’s house that night. Green’s house stunk of charred appliances and wood, so he joined some of his juniors at Red’s house. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Watching her sleeping juniors and Blue snoring, Yellow committed the sight to memory and wished they could stay like this forever.</span>
</p>
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